I am pleased to announce that my husband had the day off of work today and thus has been available to help me with my chores. My whole week has kind of been a bomb - migraines, crabby baby, lack of anything getting done, but too much to do to just sit down and admit defeat. Tomorrow we go on vacation to Canmore for a week and while that seems like such a short time away, so much needs to happen before we leave. For instance, tonight I have a rehearsal for my high school alumni choir. This rehearsal will be 2 hours and will be fantastic fun, but for some reason the thought of having to learn and memorize 4 songs tonight is rather stressful to me. Then, there is a barbque. Again, mucho fun, I'm sure. All of Matt's siblings will be there, either because they are participating or because they are spouses. I'll get to see a load of people I haven't seen since high school too. However, this barbque may go quite late so I need to make sure that everything I need to have done today is done before I go to my rehearsal at 5:00. Tomorrow morning at 10:00 there is another rehearsal. Then I volunteered to sell tickets at the door (smack me, someone.) and then the concert starts at 1 and then I volunteered to set out snacks for the intermission (smack me again, please.). At some point before the concert ends around 4 I will sing my four songs with the alumni choir. Then I'm sure I'll end up volunteering to stay and clean and we hit the road for Canmore. Of course, in order to leave for Canmore from the church where the concert is being held I must have the entire house clean, every bag packed, the car loaded up, Gabe fed something to tide him over and everything ready for my sister-in-law to housesit our place. So, in 26 hours from now I will be on vacation, and not a moment sooner.
Of course, as soon as I am on vacation it will be simply bliss! I plan to fill my car ride to the mountains with knitting and pleasant conversation with my husband (I love talking with my husband. Really, he's a fantastic person to converse with and even though I've known him for years and we talk every day, we never run out of things to say to eachother). I had to restart my holiday knitting project by the by. I had started it using inferior yarn and when I realized how pretty it had the potential to be I restarted it with some high end wool. It's going to be a scarf with alternating knit/purl boxes running as a border on the ends. I'm about a third of the way through now.
We're taking our laptop on vacation but I have no clue about whether or not we'll be online. If not, ta ta for a week! God bless you and keep you!
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
Friday, June 11, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Migraine
So you know that headache I wrote about this morning? Well, after heaving my luggage upstairs from our crawl space it became a full-fledged migraine. Party, eh? I hadn't taken anything for it yet and by the time it hit I didn't have the strength to go downstairs to even get tylenol. Fortunately Gabe had just gone down for his nap so I didn't have to worry about him, but the lights were on and the window was open and both of those factors did not contribute to my comfort. So while I ought to have been cleaning and packing I instead was laying on my bed with my eyes closed and a pillow over my face. By the time Gabe woke up however it had subsided enough that I could go get some tylenol and start working. So, even with that set back I still managed to get both the master bedroom and Gabe's bedroom clean. After that work however I was spent again and the tylenol was wearing off. I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the couch. Matt came home and we made KD for dinner. We definately have not done that in a long while. My head feels mucho better now. Matt vaccumed and I did some laundry. I also started my knitting project for Canmore. I always like to have something to work on out there and I had planned on knitting another baby hat, until I realized that I already had three made and had never given any of them away. So, I went to look up some more patterns and I got inspired to knit a baby scarf with alternating squares across it. It looks really cute - I got about a quarter of it done already tonight. If I should happen to finish that in Canmore I'm also going to knit booties. I'm so nervous about making those though. Knitting patterns totally intimidate me so the only bootie ones I'm brave enough to try involve stitching them up. While I'm in Canmore I'm also planning on reading alot. I'm bringing out Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion and hopefully I will finish the first volume while I am out there (the first of 7).
I might have mentioned previously that I was in charge of meal planning while we were out there. I got that all done a couple days ago. The first night, we're having pizza buns! Nice and easy and quick and not alot of fuss. The second night it's hamburgers, third is pork chops, fourth is barbqued chicken, the fifth is stirfry (for whomever is around - most of us are going out for dinner so for us it will be more like duck, ahi ahi or rabbit). Anyway, the sixth night we will be having steaks with a roasted garlic and pita appetizer and the final night we will be having fajitas to use up all the leftover steaks and chicken and veggies. Meals are always a family affair when we're on vacation - planning them, making them and eating them. Breakfasts totally depend on what the plans for the day are. If we're fishing we'll probably end up having cereal or bagels - something quick so that we can get out on the lake bright and early. If we're shopping and have more time then we'll usually have bacon and eggs. Hiking days call for breakfast burritos! Oh, and I'm bringing out scone mix so we'll have those one day. For snacks I'm bringing out stuff to make that black bean salsa that I made for Gabe's baby dedication and my mom's tea party. It is sooo good and so easy to make. I'm also bringing out my magic bullet to make fast dinners for the babies: squash, yogurt and fruit purees, anything with peas...
Oh, did I mention that I am weaning Gabe this week? Party, eh? He's got too many teeth for nursing to be a safe activity anymore so now he's on milk - straight up. I'm working on cold turkeying him and thus far it's going okay. He screamed at me for nearly half an hour today shortly after breakfast, however, he fell asleep right away. Tonight again he was quite fussy but fell asleep soon after. Let's just hope tomorrow is as good!
Speaking of tomorrow, that is my do-all day. I need to finish packing, clean the kitchen, clean the bathrooms, put away any remaining laundry and make another Walmart trip. I also need to make scone mix, pay bills before holidays and make dinner of course. None of those will be too difficult or time consuming alone, but they do add up quickly.
Well, it's now close to bed time and my little boy needs to be cuddled and sung to.
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
I might have mentioned previously that I was in charge of meal planning while we were out there. I got that all done a couple days ago. The first night, we're having pizza buns! Nice and easy and quick and not alot of fuss. The second night it's hamburgers, third is pork chops, fourth is barbqued chicken, the fifth is stirfry (for whomever is around - most of us are going out for dinner so for us it will be more like duck, ahi ahi or rabbit). Anyway, the sixth night we will be having steaks with a roasted garlic and pita appetizer and the final night we will be having fajitas to use up all the leftover steaks and chicken and veggies. Meals are always a family affair when we're on vacation - planning them, making them and eating them. Breakfasts totally depend on what the plans for the day are. If we're fishing we'll probably end up having cereal or bagels - something quick so that we can get out on the lake bright and early. If we're shopping and have more time then we'll usually have bacon and eggs. Hiking days call for breakfast burritos! Oh, and I'm bringing out scone mix so we'll have those one day. For snacks I'm bringing out stuff to make that black bean salsa that I made for Gabe's baby dedication and my mom's tea party. It is sooo good and so easy to make. I'm also bringing out my magic bullet to make fast dinners for the babies: squash, yogurt and fruit purees, anything with peas...
Oh, did I mention that I am weaning Gabe this week? Party, eh? He's got too many teeth for nursing to be a safe activity anymore so now he's on milk - straight up. I'm working on cold turkeying him and thus far it's going okay. He screamed at me for nearly half an hour today shortly after breakfast, however, he fell asleep right away. Tonight again he was quite fussy but fell asleep soon after. Let's just hope tomorrow is as good!
Speaking of tomorrow, that is my do-all day. I need to finish packing, clean the kitchen, clean the bathrooms, put away any remaining laundry and make another Walmart trip. I also need to make scone mix, pay bills before holidays and make dinner of course. None of those will be too difficult or time consuming alone, but they do add up quickly.
Well, it's now close to bed time and my little boy needs to be cuddled and sung to.
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
Lasagna
My head hurts today. Very badly. I wasn't feeling great yesterday and now I feel even less great. Part of the reason I wasn't feel great yesterday was the sucky circumstances. If you read my previous post, you'll know all about the late-opening grocery store fiasco. Well, after it didn't pan out for me to be as productive as I had wanted to be in the morning I got a call from my mom saying that the fish at the hospital weren't doing to well and that I needed to pick up some stuff for the tank. So, when Gabe finally woke up at 10 I got him fed, dressed and ready to go and we headed off to do errands. Oh, and the car was almost completely out of gas so I had to stop and fill up and the clerk was really rude and the guy in front of me kept talking and talking and talking and it took me 5 minutes to pay even though there was only that one guy in front of me. Then we went to the pet store. That was an in and out operation - maybe too quick for Gabe's liking however. He barely got to see the fish. Then we went to the hospital. I had troubles finding parking and then when I got in my mom took Gabe and walked away so that I could work on the tank - the only problem was I didn't have keys to open the drawer that has all the tank supplies in it and my mom knew where the spare key was but I didn't know where she went. All in all, I spent about 45 minutes at the hospital. By this time Gabe was starting to get sleepy. I made the trip at the grocery store as quick as I could and picked up some mini maki rolls for lunch while I was there. I got home, put away the groceries and then went and sat with Gabe in hopes that he would, very quickly, go to sleep. Well, he didn't. Not for 40 minutes. I, in the mean time, ate my sushi and it was awful. They had overcooked the rice so it was basically maki mush rolls. Seriously, I make better sushi than that. I did make myself an Irish Cream Cremosa - an italian soda with irish cream flavor and a dallop of cream in it - so that was a good thing about yesterday. Anyway, when Gabe finally fell asleep I went and cleaned the kitchen up and then baked and made it messy again, but at least I got my two-bite brownies done. As soon as the brownies were all done baking I needed to make dinner: Lasagna. I had never made lasagna before yesterday! Seriously! I looked up two recipes: one from Chef at Home and the other on the back of the lasagna noodle box, just to give me an idea of what needed to happen, and then I went to work.
First off I fried up some diced shallots with the ground beef. When the onions were fairly well cooked I added about a cup of diced orange pepper and a big clove of garlic. When the meat was nearly fully cooked I added another clove of garlic (one definately was not enough) and a full carrot, grated. Then I poured over it one can of crushed tomatoes and one can of tomato paste. I let that cook for a little bit over medium heat and then I added probably a 1/4 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp thyme and 1 tsp basil. I don't measure when I cook so those are definately approximates. Then I added some salt and pepper and let it cook a little bit longer. Next came the cottage cheese. The first time I had lasagna with cottage cheese in it I thought it was amazing and I always knew that when I made my own lasagna recipe up that it would have cottage cheese in it too. What I didn't know is that you should mix an egg up with the cottage cheese. Not sure why, but you should :) Anyway, I started layering next. One of the recipes I had seen said to have two full layers of meat/cottage cheese/mozarella and two more layers of meat. I decided differently. I did a layer of meat, then noodles, more meat, all of the cottage cheese, mozarella, noodles, meat, mozarella, asiago. It worked great! I then cooked it at 350 for about an hour (oh, and I had it covered with tin foil that whole time) and then I took the tin foil off and let the cheese get all crispy. I really liked it! And so did Matt although he wanted me to put some tabasco sauce in it (I usually do with my pasta sauce).
Anyway, we went to bed late last night thanks to our little monkey and then I just could not wake up this morning and when I did it was painful. So today I need to catch up on all the stuff I didn't get done tomorrow and today's list too. That means cleaning the living room, our bedroom, Gabe's bedroom, packing out suitcases and folding laundry. Party, eh? I think my first task should be to make a very big pot of coffee. Oh, and my voice is going in and out so I really hope I don't lose it before our choir alumni concert this Saturday!
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
First off I fried up some diced shallots with the ground beef. When the onions were fairly well cooked I added about a cup of diced orange pepper and a big clove of garlic. When the meat was nearly fully cooked I added another clove of garlic (one definately was not enough) and a full carrot, grated. Then I poured over it one can of crushed tomatoes and one can of tomato paste. I let that cook for a little bit over medium heat and then I added probably a 1/4 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp thyme and 1 tsp basil. I don't measure when I cook so those are definately approximates. Then I added some salt and pepper and let it cook a little bit longer. Next came the cottage cheese. The first time I had lasagna with cottage cheese in it I thought it was amazing and I always knew that when I made my own lasagna recipe up that it would have cottage cheese in it too. What I didn't know is that you should mix an egg up with the cottage cheese. Not sure why, but you should :) Anyway, I started layering next. One of the recipes I had seen said to have two full layers of meat/cottage cheese/mozarella and two more layers of meat. I decided differently. I did a layer of meat, then noodles, more meat, all of the cottage cheese, mozarella, noodles, meat, mozarella, asiago. It worked great! I then cooked it at 350 for about an hour (oh, and I had it covered with tin foil that whole time) and then I took the tin foil off and let the cheese get all crispy. I really liked it! And so did Matt although he wanted me to put some tabasco sauce in it (I usually do with my pasta sauce).
Anyway, we went to bed late last night thanks to our little monkey and then I just could not wake up this morning and when I did it was painful. So today I need to catch up on all the stuff I didn't get done tomorrow and today's list too. That means cleaning the living room, our bedroom, Gabe's bedroom, packing out suitcases and folding laundry. Party, eh? I think my first task should be to make a very big pot of coffee. Oh, and my voice is going in and out so I really hope I don't lose it before our choir alumni concert this Saturday!
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Weird, weird morning
What a weird, weird morning...
My first reaction when the alarm went off this morning at 6:30 was to tell Matt to hit snooze. I had a really sucky evening yesterday, what with the screaming baby and the creeping up head cold, and we stayed up pretty late listening to a Mark Driscoll sermon (on Mary - it was really, really good), so it just seemed natural to hit the snooze button. However, Matt failed to hear me - he was still asleep. I went to tell him again but I lifted my head a little bit and saw that it was actually sunny outside. Well, that was enough for me. I decided to get out of bed and start my day. I asked Matt what time our local Save-on-Foods was open at in the morning and he said 7. My duties today are to bake, bake, bake and clean a little. There's a Ladies' Retreat this weekend that, while I am not attending, I agreed to bake for. So I need to make 4 dozen of my two-bite brownies and 3 dozen muffins, however, before I do so I need to pick up a load of cocoa and some bananas. The cocoa I have been buying in bulk lately because you can get 3 times as much in bulk for the same price as one package. Anyway, after having a slight misunderstanding about how soon Matt would be leaving for work (right away meant in an hour) and not being able to find the keys (they were in the pocket of a hoodie folded up in a laundry pile in the basement) I was off.
It was about this time that I had to come to terms with the fact that the sun I had seen earlier was the only sunlight I would probably be seeing all day. Still raining, still ugly. But that was okay, I was going to be super productive today, right? Wrong. Well, it may still be right, it just won't happen quite the way I thought it would. The stupid grocery store doesn't open until 9. They changed the hours. It used to open early and close late and now it opens late and closes early. But I had driven so far, so early in the morning! How could it be for no reason??? There was a Timmy's in the parking lot but I had already made coffee at home... But, there was also a McDonalds in the parking lot. For the record, one of my favorite breakfasts in the whole wide world is a McDonalds BLT Bagel. I really love them! Their hashbrowns I could do without, but those bagels are quite fantastic. So I got a bagel for me and a McGriddle (ugh.) for Matt and came home. Now I am waiting patiently (?) for my darling husband to wake up so that we can have breakfast together and for my darling baby to wake up too so that I can feed him, change him, get him bundled up to go outside and drag him with me to the grocery store when it opens at 9 this morning. Oh yes, and did I mention we're out of milk? I never let us run out of milk. I actually meant to go get some last night after Auxano, however, I did not go to Auxano (see above explanation). One of my Amish Loaves sure went to Auxano though :) Since I didn't even see the wrapper I sent it in come back I'm assuming it was well received.
Oh, and I would like to make a brief political comment. Michael Ignatieff is a fear-monger and a goon. I was listening to the news this morning and it was talking about how the new federal budget is set to be released. They talked about the Liberal Party leader's reaction to the new budget and he said that it was a very clear sign of abuse of power by Stephen Harper but nothing worth forcing an election over. Seriously? What sorts of things do you think merit forcing an election over if not the abuse of power by the Prime Minister? Oh, wait, I know the answer: pay cuts that affect you directly. The NDPs and the Liberals threw a huge hissy fit last year when their campaign budgets were slashed even though the Conservative party slashed their own budget on a much larger scale - and yes, I know that the Conservatives still had loads of money for campaigning because, well, they won the election, but really, what a stupid thing to force an election over. Who cares? How does this affect voters? Responsible, well-informed and critical voters will research for themselves who to vote for and not wait for a TV commercial to tell them who to pick. But when you throw out the words "abuse of power" does that not imply something much more scandalous and sinister? Does that not make you think of nazis and communists from ages past? I love Stephen Harper. You should have no reason to doubt my trust in that man as the leader of our country, however, you should also have no reason to believe that my dislike of Ignatieff is based on my love for Harper. I'd think he was a wishy-washy, spineless, brown nosing, fear-monger even if he were a conservative. When the recession hit the US, Harper, like the good economist he is, tried to evade panic in the Canadian market. The only thing that could make the recession hit our country was panic. If we reacted wisely but moderately we could have side-stepped it. But Ignatieff took the whole "the sky is falling" route and helped usher in a full fledged recession. If you're a Liberal, God bless you. Seriously, if I were in the States I'd be a Democrat. This is no bash towards being a Liberal, but it is a bash towards their leader. I must admit, they've had some real losers as party leaders in the past and Ignatieff is shaping up to be just as promising as them.
Anyway, that was my rant and I hear my husband up so I am going to finally go eat my breakfast.
Ta ta
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
My first reaction when the alarm went off this morning at 6:30 was to tell Matt to hit snooze. I had a really sucky evening yesterday, what with the screaming baby and the creeping up head cold, and we stayed up pretty late listening to a Mark Driscoll sermon (on Mary - it was really, really good), so it just seemed natural to hit the snooze button. However, Matt failed to hear me - he was still asleep. I went to tell him again but I lifted my head a little bit and saw that it was actually sunny outside. Well, that was enough for me. I decided to get out of bed and start my day. I asked Matt what time our local Save-on-Foods was open at in the morning and he said 7. My duties today are to bake, bake, bake and clean a little. There's a Ladies' Retreat this weekend that, while I am not attending, I agreed to bake for. So I need to make 4 dozen of my two-bite brownies and 3 dozen muffins, however, before I do so I need to pick up a load of cocoa and some bananas. The cocoa I have been buying in bulk lately because you can get 3 times as much in bulk for the same price as one package. Anyway, after having a slight misunderstanding about how soon Matt would be leaving for work (right away meant in an hour) and not being able to find the keys (they were in the pocket of a hoodie folded up in a laundry pile in the basement) I was off.
It was about this time that I had to come to terms with the fact that the sun I had seen earlier was the only sunlight I would probably be seeing all day. Still raining, still ugly. But that was okay, I was going to be super productive today, right? Wrong. Well, it may still be right, it just won't happen quite the way I thought it would. The stupid grocery store doesn't open until 9. They changed the hours. It used to open early and close late and now it opens late and closes early. But I had driven so far, so early in the morning! How could it be for no reason??? There was a Timmy's in the parking lot but I had already made coffee at home... But, there was also a McDonalds in the parking lot. For the record, one of my favorite breakfasts in the whole wide world is a McDonalds BLT Bagel. I really love them! Their hashbrowns I could do without, but those bagels are quite fantastic. So I got a bagel for me and a McGriddle (ugh.) for Matt and came home. Now I am waiting patiently (?) for my darling husband to wake up so that we can have breakfast together and for my darling baby to wake up too so that I can feed him, change him, get him bundled up to go outside and drag him with me to the grocery store when it opens at 9 this morning. Oh yes, and did I mention we're out of milk? I never let us run out of milk. I actually meant to go get some last night after Auxano, however, I did not go to Auxano (see above explanation). One of my Amish Loaves sure went to Auxano though :) Since I didn't even see the wrapper I sent it in come back I'm assuming it was well received.
Oh, and I would like to make a brief political comment. Michael Ignatieff is a fear-monger and a goon. I was listening to the news this morning and it was talking about how the new federal budget is set to be released. They talked about the Liberal Party leader's reaction to the new budget and he said that it was a very clear sign of abuse of power by Stephen Harper but nothing worth forcing an election over. Seriously? What sorts of things do you think merit forcing an election over if not the abuse of power by the Prime Minister? Oh, wait, I know the answer: pay cuts that affect you directly. The NDPs and the Liberals threw a huge hissy fit last year when their campaign budgets were slashed even though the Conservative party slashed their own budget on a much larger scale - and yes, I know that the Conservatives still had loads of money for campaigning because, well, they won the election, but really, what a stupid thing to force an election over. Who cares? How does this affect voters? Responsible, well-informed and critical voters will research for themselves who to vote for and not wait for a TV commercial to tell them who to pick. But when you throw out the words "abuse of power" does that not imply something much more scandalous and sinister? Does that not make you think of nazis and communists from ages past? I love Stephen Harper. You should have no reason to doubt my trust in that man as the leader of our country, however, you should also have no reason to believe that my dislike of Ignatieff is based on my love for Harper. I'd think he was a wishy-washy, spineless, brown nosing, fear-monger even if he were a conservative. When the recession hit the US, Harper, like the good economist he is, tried to evade panic in the Canadian market. The only thing that could make the recession hit our country was panic. If we reacted wisely but moderately we could have side-stepped it. But Ignatieff took the whole "the sky is falling" route and helped usher in a full fledged recession. If you're a Liberal, God bless you. Seriously, if I were in the States I'd be a Democrat. This is no bash towards being a Liberal, but it is a bash towards their leader. I must admit, they've had some real losers as party leaders in the past and Ignatieff is shaping up to be just as promising as them.
Anyway, that was my rant and I hear my husband up so I am going to finally go eat my breakfast.
Ta ta
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
Monday, June 7, 2010
Fun Weekend
What a great weekend! It was a long weekend for us too! Matt took Friday off of work so that we could get to Calgary in time for his Men's Conference. Before we left town we picked up the fish for the hospital and got their fish tank set up there. From there we hit Timmy's and hit the road! We got to Calgary around 2 and didn't have anywhere to be until 4 so we went shopping! We went to the Le Chateau Outlet and man, I love that place. I needed to get some new jeans and I've had troubles finding jeans that fit me well, but their jeans fit me perfectly. Plus, they were only $20, marked down from $80. I also got a cute white blouse for $20 too (regular $50). Matt got a pair of jeans too for $20. I'll have to go back there next month to get a dress for my cousin's wedding at the end of July. I don't think I'm going to buy clothes anywhere other than there from now on :)
Matt had a great time at the conference on Friday night and then we were up at 6 Saturday morning because he was so excited about going back to the conference. I dropped him off then hung out with my sister a bit before we went to my grandparents' for lunch. After lunch we went to a PartyLite party, and I bought things! I flipped through their whole June Catalogue and didn't see anything I really wanted so I figured I'd just get some scented tealights. Well then I flipped through their small Summer booklet and saw 4 things I wanted to get! I settled with two - one was a driftwood looking candle holder that's totally gorgeous. The other thing I got was a present for my mother-in-law! Her birthday isn't until late Fall but it was just one of those things that totally reminded me of her. After the party I dropped off Gabe at my sister's, picked up Matt and then we went and picked up Peter's for dinner! mmmmmmm... It had been about 9 years since I had Peter's. I think was only the third time that I had it. I got a chocolate strawberry milkshake... yum! After dinner we went down South to see my cousins! We hung out with them for a while before going to see my cousin's new house - which was gorgeous by the way! Once we had gone through every room twice (really, gorgeous!) Matt and I headed back up to my sister's place. She wasn't feeling great. We were supposed to stay at home Sunday morning and watch our niece so that my sister could sing in the worship team at church but since she was sick she was going to stay home from church so we didn't need to babysit. So Matt and I decided at 11:00 Saturday night to drive home! We wanted to go to our church and to sleep in our own bed. So, by 11:30 we were packed and leaving Calgary. We got home just before 1. Poor Gabe slept most of the way home (he had a weird nap day already...) so he didn't even wake up when we took him out of the car and put him in bed. Sunday we woke up a little late so we missed a bunch of church - we got there just as the sermon was beginning. That evening we hung out with my parents and talked alot about our plans for our vacation in Canmore! While I was over there I made my weekly to do list. Today my list said that I had to do a butt load of laundry, make my Amish Friendship loaf and clean the basement. Right after Gabe had breakfast I made up the loaf (using butterscotch pudding instead of vanilla and I added some butterscotch chips too!) and now I've got the laundry going. My sister-in-law is housesitting for us next week so we've got to make sure the house is clean!
Well, Gabe just fell asleep so I'd best tackle the cleaning portion of my list.
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
Matt had a great time at the conference on Friday night and then we were up at 6 Saturday morning because he was so excited about going back to the conference. I dropped him off then hung out with my sister a bit before we went to my grandparents' for lunch. After lunch we went to a PartyLite party, and I bought things! I flipped through their whole June Catalogue and didn't see anything I really wanted so I figured I'd just get some scented tealights. Well then I flipped through their small Summer booklet and saw 4 things I wanted to get! I settled with two - one was a driftwood looking candle holder that's totally gorgeous. The other thing I got was a present for my mother-in-law! Her birthday isn't until late Fall but it was just one of those things that totally reminded me of her. After the party I dropped off Gabe at my sister's, picked up Matt and then we went and picked up Peter's for dinner! mmmmmmm... It had been about 9 years since I had Peter's. I think was only the third time that I had it. I got a chocolate strawberry milkshake... yum! After dinner we went down South to see my cousins! We hung out with them for a while before going to see my cousin's new house - which was gorgeous by the way! Once we had gone through every room twice (really, gorgeous!) Matt and I headed back up to my sister's place. She wasn't feeling great. We were supposed to stay at home Sunday morning and watch our niece so that my sister could sing in the worship team at church but since she was sick she was going to stay home from church so we didn't need to babysit. So Matt and I decided at 11:00 Saturday night to drive home! We wanted to go to our church and to sleep in our own bed. So, by 11:30 we were packed and leaving Calgary. We got home just before 1. Poor Gabe slept most of the way home (he had a weird nap day already...) so he didn't even wake up when we took him out of the car and put him in bed. Sunday we woke up a little late so we missed a bunch of church - we got there just as the sermon was beginning. That evening we hung out with my parents and talked alot about our plans for our vacation in Canmore! While I was over there I made my weekly to do list. Today my list said that I had to do a butt load of laundry, make my Amish Friendship loaf and clean the basement. Right after Gabe had breakfast I made up the loaf (using butterscotch pudding instead of vanilla and I added some butterscotch chips too!) and now I've got the laundry going. My sister-in-law is housesitting for us next week so we've got to make sure the house is clean!
Well, Gabe just fell asleep so I'd best tackle the cleaning portion of my list.
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Yucky day.
Well, Gabe didn't sleep through the night, but that was mostly my fault. Matt and I stayed up talking until almost 1:00 and Gabe had been in bed since 9. He started tossing and turning alot and at one point he started whimpering in his sleep. I looked in on him and he had turned himself around in his crib and had his legs sticking through the slats and one of his feet just kept kicking away... it was really cute but I could tell he wasn't really comfortable. I picked him up and laid him back down and that's what woke him up. And then he had troubles going back to sleep. So I didn't get much sleep at all. I woke up a bunch of times through the night and I'm exhausted. Also, I had a shower right before bed and my hair was wet when I went to sleep... it's awesome. And by awesome I mean awful. Like, Medusa.
Needless to say I shall be avoiding everyone's line of sight until it is fixed lest the worst should happen.
I'm helping my sister with the cooking for a shower this month. It's going to be a girly garden party so I was thinking Italian Sodas, Fruit Puree Sodas, some pita chips, Petit Fours and a fresh fruit pyramid (tres Pride and Prejudice btw). I'll work on some other ideas but that's the foundation for the menu anyway.
I'm feeling very blah today. My brain just isn't there. I can hardly be inspired about planning that menu even. It's yucky outside which means no gardening, it's messy inside which makes me feel like I should clean but I feel so blah I just don't want to. I think I'm just waiting for tomorrow really. Tomorrow I get to go to Calgary, and tomorrow I get to run errands with Matt and buy fish for the hospital and see my sister and maybe even go clothes shopping before we leave town. We'll get up early, have fun packing together and hit Timmy's on the way out of town... It'll be really nice. It just seems so far away. I do have things I need to get done before then, like I need to rearrange our crawl space so that one of our friends can store some stuff in there while he's out of the country this summer, and I really need to do more laundry folding (which is what the big mess in the house is right now). But I really just want to sleep. Which is weird. Did you know I actually dislike sleep? I mean, I obviously see it as something that needs to be done and so I don't try and avoid it entirely, but if I'm having a nap in the middle of the afternoon you can tell that I'm feeling royally crappy. Sleep is a waste of time to me. I'd so much rather read, or cook, or play a game, or talk, or really do almost anything rather than stay in bed - particularly when the sun in shining. Natural light wakes me up more than anything (except maybe Grapefruit juice) and when the sun comes through the window at 5:30 in the morning I totally feel like jumping out of bed and starting the day. Matt disagrees on this point unfortunately so I have to make sure I don't wake him :)
Well, I think maybe I'll turn on a movie and fold some laundry. That's pretty much slacking, right?
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
Needless to say I shall be avoiding everyone's line of sight until it is fixed lest the worst should happen.
I'm helping my sister with the cooking for a shower this month. It's going to be a girly garden party so I was thinking Italian Sodas, Fruit Puree Sodas, some pita chips, Petit Fours and a fresh fruit pyramid (tres Pride and Prejudice btw). I'll work on some other ideas but that's the foundation for the menu anyway.
I'm feeling very blah today. My brain just isn't there. I can hardly be inspired about planning that menu even. It's yucky outside which means no gardening, it's messy inside which makes me feel like I should clean but I feel so blah I just don't want to. I think I'm just waiting for tomorrow really. Tomorrow I get to go to Calgary, and tomorrow I get to run errands with Matt and buy fish for the hospital and see my sister and maybe even go clothes shopping before we leave town. We'll get up early, have fun packing together and hit Timmy's on the way out of town... It'll be really nice. It just seems so far away. I do have things I need to get done before then, like I need to rearrange our crawl space so that one of our friends can store some stuff in there while he's out of the country this summer, and I really need to do more laundry folding (which is what the big mess in the house is right now). But I really just want to sleep. Which is weird. Did you know I actually dislike sleep? I mean, I obviously see it as something that needs to be done and so I don't try and avoid it entirely, but if I'm having a nap in the middle of the afternoon you can tell that I'm feeling royally crappy. Sleep is a waste of time to me. I'd so much rather read, or cook, or play a game, or talk, or really do almost anything rather than stay in bed - particularly when the sun in shining. Natural light wakes me up more than anything (except maybe Grapefruit juice) and when the sun comes through the window at 5:30 in the morning I totally feel like jumping out of bed and starting the day. Matt disagrees on this point unfortunately so I have to make sure I don't wake him :)
Well, I think maybe I'll turn on a movie and fold some laundry. That's pretty much slacking, right?
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Homemade Ice Cream!
Last night Matt and I went over to visit some of our friends who are getting married this summer. We've been trying to schedule a get-together for some time now but could never find a time that worked so when we saw eachother on Monday night and found out we all had the next evening free we jumped on it. When we got to their place we found out that they were making ice cream for us! They had picked up an ice cream maker at Value Village and had been playing around with different recipes lately. They said it only took half an hour to make if the bowl it gets made in is good and frozen and man, it was fantastic! They made just plain ice cream, so no chocolate or chai or anything like that, but it was sooooooo good. So now, I'm going to go find an ice cream maker! I have loads of recipes for gelato and ice cream that all require an ice cream maker and I've always loathed those recipes because they look so good but I can't make them, so I'll get an ice cream maker and I finally will make them!
Today I need to do some baking. A few months ago I decided to try out a recipe from a magazine. The article flouted them as being the world's best cookies so I was hopefully that they'd be pretty good. When I finally had all the ingredients (there's a few things in them that I don't typically keep in my house) and made them, I was a little disappointed. For one, they were not the world's best cookies. They weren't even the best cookies I had made that day. And they were a bar, not a cookie anyway. So we ate them all up, I ranted for a couple days about what a let down they were and that was that - I thought. Turns out the magazine did lie about what they were. They said they were the world's best cookies, but actually they are the world's most addictive cookies. I crave them all the time now! I've figured out what it is too. It's the umami. There used to be only 4 tastes that people were supposedly able to recognize: sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Lots of people didn't see the gaping hole that was savoriness, so a few years back now they named that gaping hole "Umami". Anyway, sorry about that little lesson. Back to my story: the umami flavours in the "World's Best Cookies that Weren't" were from the dark brown sugar (that smokey taste from the molasses) and the almond extract in it too. So now I make sure that every month or so I have dark brown sugar in my house, along with sliced almonds and almond extract so that I can make these addictive cookies. Aside from those today I also need to make Matt some monster cookies with mini M&Ms in them.
I have a victory to report: Gabe has officially slept through the night 3 nights in a row! Unfortunately, it apparently takes humans 12 days to make anything a habit, but whatever, this is a victory for me.
Yesterday Matt came home early from work so I took the opportunity to go grocery shopping without Gabe. I must confess, it was a lonely chore without him. I must also confess that I bought so much I wouldn't have had room for him in the cart. It was Co-op's Warehouse sale so I bought a bunch of canned fruit and vegetables and something I never get: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts. With chicken it is almost always much, much cheaper to buy Bone-in and skin-on, even when you factor in the weight difference of the bones. But yesterday was an exception. They had their 4 kg boxes of the chicken breasts on for really cheap and it was cheaper to buy that then it was to buy all the breasts with all the bones attached. When I got home I quickly found that my fridge was too full, as was my freezer. So I cleaned out and organized both of them. Matt sure was happy about that.
May I again, just say how much I love ClubHouse? Yesterday while walking down the spice aisle I noticed some more ClubHouse mixes: Chipotle Pepper Chicken Marinade, Baja Citrus Marinade, Pad Thai mix... I picked up a few different ones and tested out the Baja Citrus on some of those chicken breasts last night. It was really, really good! Next time I'll bake some asiago on the chicken too, but that's really the only thing I would change.
I am so excited for my vacation in a couple of weeks, although everything that needs to be done before then is starting to weigh down on me. But when I'm all done what I need to do and I finally get to go on vacation, it will be fantastic! Swimming everyday! Playing tennis with my husband! Going on hikes with my family! Whole days spent sitting around a lake fishing... Man it's going to be amazing. It is every year :)
Well, Having just complained about how much I need to get done, I suppose I'd best go do it, eh?
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
Today I need to do some baking. A few months ago I decided to try out a recipe from a magazine. The article flouted them as being the world's best cookies so I was hopefully that they'd be pretty good. When I finally had all the ingredients (there's a few things in them that I don't typically keep in my house) and made them, I was a little disappointed. For one, they were not the world's best cookies. They weren't even the best cookies I had made that day. And they were a bar, not a cookie anyway. So we ate them all up, I ranted for a couple days about what a let down they were and that was that - I thought. Turns out the magazine did lie about what they were. They said they were the world's best cookies, but actually they are the world's most addictive cookies. I crave them all the time now! I've figured out what it is too. It's the umami. There used to be only 4 tastes that people were supposedly able to recognize: sweet, sour, bitter and salty. Lots of people didn't see the gaping hole that was savoriness, so a few years back now they named that gaping hole "Umami". Anyway, sorry about that little lesson. Back to my story: the umami flavours in the "World's Best Cookies that Weren't" were from the dark brown sugar (that smokey taste from the molasses) and the almond extract in it too. So now I make sure that every month or so I have dark brown sugar in my house, along with sliced almonds and almond extract so that I can make these addictive cookies. Aside from those today I also need to make Matt some monster cookies with mini M&Ms in them.
I have a victory to report: Gabe has officially slept through the night 3 nights in a row! Unfortunately, it apparently takes humans 12 days to make anything a habit, but whatever, this is a victory for me.
Yesterday Matt came home early from work so I took the opportunity to go grocery shopping without Gabe. I must confess, it was a lonely chore without him. I must also confess that I bought so much I wouldn't have had room for him in the cart. It was Co-op's Warehouse sale so I bought a bunch of canned fruit and vegetables and something I never get: Boneless, skinless chicken breasts. With chicken it is almost always much, much cheaper to buy Bone-in and skin-on, even when you factor in the weight difference of the bones. But yesterday was an exception. They had their 4 kg boxes of the chicken breasts on for really cheap and it was cheaper to buy that then it was to buy all the breasts with all the bones attached. When I got home I quickly found that my fridge was too full, as was my freezer. So I cleaned out and organized both of them. Matt sure was happy about that.
May I again, just say how much I love ClubHouse? Yesterday while walking down the spice aisle I noticed some more ClubHouse mixes: Chipotle Pepper Chicken Marinade, Baja Citrus Marinade, Pad Thai mix... I picked up a few different ones and tested out the Baja Citrus on some of those chicken breasts last night. It was really, really good! Next time I'll bake some asiago on the chicken too, but that's really the only thing I would change.
I am so excited for my vacation in a couple of weeks, although everything that needs to be done before then is starting to weigh down on me. But when I'm all done what I need to do and I finally get to go on vacation, it will be fantastic! Swimming everyday! Playing tennis with my husband! Going on hikes with my family! Whole days spent sitting around a lake fishing... Man it's going to be amazing. It is every year :)
Well, Having just complained about how much I need to get done, I suppose I'd best go do it, eh?
Mrs. Vander Leek ;)
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